This invention relates to a conveying system, particularly for use in the mass production of confectionery items for advancing the items from a baking oven to a processing machine, such as a packing apparatus.
For packaging confectionery items in mass production, it is conventional to subdivide the stream of articles discharged by the baking oven into a plurality of partial streams, each being advanced to a separate packing machine. Normally, such a packaging line includes a standby packing machine for the event that one of the machines breaks down, at which time the article stream intended for the defective machine is re-routed to the standby apparatus.
Swiss Pat. No. 364,454 discloses an apparatus of the above-outlined type for the selective re-routing of a multi-column stream of items onto one of two conveyor devices. The items are supplied to the apparatus in an edgewise standing orientation to thus form a lying stack. The re-routing is effected by causing guides to pivot in a vertical direction. It is a disadvantage of this arrangement that due to forces derived from inertia and the elasticity of the lying stack the items may be jammed, causing operational disturbances.
Swiss Pat. No. 367,751 discloses a method for re-routing items prior to setting them on edge and forming stacks therefrom. In the normal position of the apparatus the items are caused to vault in a free flight over an opening and are further conveyed on the upper face of a gate to a first conveyor belt. For causing a re-routing, the gate is pivoted into an upper position, whereupon the items are guided along the underside of the gate to a second, lower-lying conveyor belt. It is a disadvantage of this arrangement that the items have to be of significant strength to avoid breakage and it is not feasible to combine the apparatus with an additional cooling track.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,078 discloses an apparatus for dividing a single row into parallel channels, wherein the downstream end of an adjustable individual channel with lateral walls may be pivoted by means of a pneumatic cylinder unit into selected positions corresponding to the plurality of individual rows.
British Published Patent Application No. 2,131,378 discloses an apparatus similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,193,078, except that the apparatus operates in the reverse order such that the number of article rows is reduced to a smaller number of rows for the downstream conveying apparatus.
Swiss Pat. No. 529,006 shows an apparatus for the uniform distribution of articles, supplied in a plurality of rows, into a greater number of conveying rows. The article rows are admitted by means of a slide onto plates which are oscillated about axes oriented at an inclination to the direction of conveyance and which cause the items to slide alternatingly into adjoining channels. It is a disadvantage of this arrangement that, since the items undergo lateral sliding, their orientation is changed in an undetermined manner. This is particularly a drawback in case the items are provided, for example, with embossed designs which, in the finished package, should have a predetermined orientation.